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Telling Stories in a Digital Age
By Jennifer McGuiggan, Communications Coordinator
When Martha O'Grady came to Pittsburgh 20 years ago, she says, she hit the city just as everyone was downsizing. Ironically, this turned out to be good news for O'Grady. All of this downsizing meant that companies were eliminating their in-house employees who did what O'Grady and her husband, Richard Marsh, wanted to do: video production.
Upon completion of graduate school their plan was for Marsh to go out and get "a real job" while O'Grady stayed at home writing scripts. But when she approached companies with her scriptwriting services, she discovered that they needed more than just a script: they needed the whole production. She and Marsh gladly took on these projects. "It worked out wonderfully for us," O'Grady says.
Then, as these same companies began shutting down their corporate editing suits, O'Grady and Marsh purchased their equipment and co-founded Panta Rhei Media, Inc. (www.panta-rhei.com) in 1983. O'Grady assumed ownership in 1989 and lead the Company's expansion through the additions of a small commercial building, a state-of-the-art video camera package, a linear post production suite, and innovative digital editing technology.
Today, Panta Rhei Media is a successful videotape and multimedia production company located in Turtle Creek, PA that produces programs for many nationally recognized organizations including Alcoa Automotive, UPMC, VP Buildings, Respironics, Medrad, and SMC. Their forte is taking projects from concept to completion using character, plot, and time-tested themes to move audiences to action.
O'Grady emphasizes that she is "a great believer in storytelling techniques and character… It seems to me the core of what we do is not significantly changed from the storyteller."
She muses that there are "misconceptions among high-tech firms that there's something new happening." To illustrate, she mentions a poster in her office that chronicles the history of human achievements. Computers, she says, are right at the end, occupying a tiny space of human history. "As soon as you lose sight of [the fact that we're essentially the same as our ancestors], you lose sight of what makes it all work." It's "all those generations of human history" that helps O'Grady keep things in perspective and keep telling stories.
O'Grady has always loved the power of story. As an undergraduate at Seton Hill College in Greensburg, PA, she designed her own degree, combining her passion for communication, theatre, and dramatic literature. She went on to receive an M.A. in Communication (with emphasis in radio, television, and film) from Northern Illinois University.
While she believes that the core of humanity remains the same, advances in technology have undeniable changed the way O'Grady does business. As technology has introduced new delivery systems and acquisition formats to the video production business, O'Grady says that they "have been turned upside down two or three times in the process." In addition to video, they have added CD-ROM, DVD, websites, and live events to their capabilities.
She jokes about the speed of today's delivery systems compared with the past: "I thought a fax was a big deal!" The day she got one, she thought, "You mean it can get here the same day? We used to have to finish three days prior to shooting to allow time to mail it - or hire a courier."
O'Grady's business education began when her employer in Illinois, the owner of a video production company, went out of business and she learned a "first person lesson in what not to do."
"He taught me how to market and sell, and also how not to spend money you don't have - and that's a very valuable lesson," O'Grady says.
Although O'Grady confesses that media days are naturally long, she says, "I really love what I do, and that keeps it all going." She says that she finds the work "inherently very fulfilling" and enjoys all aspects it. She takes a team-oriented approach to her business, noting, "If you're going to see someone in the wee hours of the morning and the middle of the night, you'd better be comfortable."
The wee hours of the morning, the middle of the night, or even foreign countries: Panta Rhei has videotaped for Alcoa in Germany and for Century Aluminum in England. Most recently, they staged a three-day event for VP Buildings in Acapulco, Mexico. In addition to producing eleven individual tapes for the event, they also produced a set with live talent and provided interactive keypads to allow the audience to participate in a "game show."
"It was really big and really challenging in ways we haven't been challenged before," O'Grady says. She jokes that she didn't get much pool time while there - spending most it in a darkened room - but she is proud of what they accomplished, including dealing with a myriad of challenges such as cross-cultural differences, language barriers, and customs restrictions. O'Grady says, "I'm usually proudest of what I just got done with…and I think that's good."
She identifies her largest business obstacles as those of her own making. "I think a lot of women businesses don't confront glass ceilings; we create our own and carry them around with us." In order to overcome these self-imposed limitations, O'Grady says women need "more role models of successful women businesses." Also, they need to decide what they want out of their business - whether they're trying to make millions or just create income to support the rest of their life. "I think women go into business for far more varied reasons than men do."
"It's hard to be a small business trying to get big," she admits. There comes a time when it's "time to stop talking in terms of generalities" and get down to business. She has received assistance from organizations such as SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) and was a 1995 recipient of a PowerLink advisory panel. Founded in Pittsburgh, PowerLink is an organization that helps established women-owned businesses grow their businesses profitably by providing a free one-year advisory panel.
O'Grady believes that there is a whole section of women business owners who could greatly benefit from PowerLink panels. To that end, she joined their Board of Directors in 1996, a volunteer position she continues to hold as Chair of the Nominating Committee. When Seton Hill University's National Education Center for Women in Business (The Center) expressed interest in offering PowerLink to women in neighboring Westmoreland County, O'Grady stepped-up to the challenge and volunteered as a liaison between the University and parent organization. She coordinated one of the first panels for The Center and now serves on their ATHENAPowerLink® governance board, which expanded its initiatives to four additional counties.
In 1997 the Women Business Owners Association of Pennsylvania recognized her as "Woman of the Year" for her work advocating improvements of Pennsylvania's WBE process and in 2002 O'Grady was named one of Pennsylvania's Best 50 Women in Business. As a member of SMC's Marketing Committee, O'Grady helps evaluate marketing strategies and materials for the organization, a group that advocates for small businesses in local and national governments.
Under O'Grady's leadership as co-founder and President, Panta Rhei has evolved into an esteemed enterprise, winning 27 international and national awards and 18 regional and local awards for production excellence, including accolades from the Chicago International Film Festival, the Telly Awards, the American Video Awards, and the International Television Association (now renamed Media Communications Association.) Because they started with just video and have expanded to include so many other formats, O'Grady says, "We're always excited about the multimedia awards."
O'Grady's philosophy can be summed up nicely in the meaning of her company's name: "panta rhei" is an arcane Greek expression meaning "all things move" or "all things flow." "It has functioned marvelously well," she says.
April 2003 |
